opinions on some products

[accordmaniac]

i was thinking of detailing my dads minivan over Thanksgiving, so i`m trying to acquire the products over these couple of weeks. i need some opinions on what to use.

* first of all has anyone used the rubbing compound from 3m that is sold at walmart? how does it work?

*secondly has anyone tried wither the 3m plastic cleaner or polish?

*since it`s a van i don`t think i have time to clean,polish, and wax so i want to use a one step (i will clay though) would you recomend color x, mother cleaner wax, meguiars cleaner, turtle wax ultra gloss, dura gloss, or meg`s gold class

*also i was thinking of cleaning his engine so i have heard about using mop and glo to coat plastic parts can someone comment on this



notice that all these are store bought. if anyone else has any other products that are otc please recommend (i already have tech wax but i want something with higher cleaning content)



thanks a lot!

[Scottwax]

I`d go with ColorX. Cleans and protects in one step. You can top with NXT if you wish.



Personally, I wouldn`t use any protectants under the hood. On daily drivers, they tend to attract a lot of dust.

[imported_Larry A]

Originally posted by Scottwax

I`d go with ColorX. Cleans and protects in one step. You can top with NXT if you wish.



Personally, I wouldn`t use any protectants under the hood. On daily drivers, they tend to attract a lot of dust. I used Color X on my sons 1989 silver Nissan and boy was I impressed . I did it by hand and rubbed it in well , and applied it twice . It really made the car look good.

[Eliot Ness]

Originally posted by accordmaniac

..........also i was thinking of cleaning his engine so i have heard about using mop and glo to coat plastic parts can someone comment on this........

There was a recent thread that covered engine cleaning that you may find helpful:



http://autopia.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=45268&highlight=engine+cleaning



I have heard of using Mop n` Glo but can`t remember what the final (if any) consensus was. You may want to look at the tire foam method JDookie mentions in the above thread. It seems to work well for him (after cleaning) and I did use it years ago with similar results.

[accordmaniac]

is the tirefoam safe for the engine components?

[accordmaniac]

anybody want to make more suggestions? also i am very curious about the 3m plastic polish, its the only plastic polish that i have seen around here.

[Big Leegr]

Don`t know where "around here" is, but if you can find Mother`s plastic polish or Meguiar`s PlastX you may be better off. The 3M works well enough, but is more expensive (in Canada, at least). Any of the 3 plastic polishes will help clarify clear plastic, and "shine up" tail lenses etc. but if you are working on scratches, you better plan on spending lots of time/product on it. They are all fairly mild products, so none will "erase" scratches in 1 pass.

ColorX works very well for removing oxidation, but didn`t seem to do much on swirls. Mothers cleaner wax would be a better bet for that. If you buy the Mothers clay bar kit, you`ll get a 4 oz. bottle of the cleaner wax in the kit.

I tend to go with water based dressings for engine work. If you have a water based tire dresing, then go ahead. (AFAIK most stores` dedicated tire dressings have petroleum in them).

Haven`t tried the 3M rubbing compound.

[stevet]

Originally posted by Scottwax

Personally, I wouldn`t use any protectants under the hood. On daily drivers, they tend to attract a lot of dust.



Hmm, I use 303 on all plastic and rubber parts under the hood and it seems to repell dust not attract it. What protectant do you use?